


Nap time

by Void (EroEmo)



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Accidental meeting, Alternate Universe - Professors, Fluff without Plot, M/M, Meet-Cute, POV Hermann Gottlieb, Unexpected Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 17:40:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15491175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EroEmo/pseuds/Void
Summary: Hermann has a conference to attend and yet the world is mocking him by greatly delaying his flight. Is there something more annoying than waiting in the terminal in the middle of the night? The universe has an answer to that.Or "our flights got delayed so we’re sleeping in the terminal and wow… your shoulder’s really comfy i think i’ll just…. take a nap… right here…" AU.





	Nap time

It was supposed to be a quick journey, only a few hours long flight.

He had a nice plan of boarding the plane peacefully, not troubled by other passengers in the slightest. You see, the benefits of being a well known academic persona included respect from other scientists and intellectuals while remaining unbothered in public most of the time. Hermann Gottlieb was a somewhat famous person, at least in the physic-related circles, however no one could really attach the face to the name. And so he could freely walk around the half-desolated terminal, the clock striking three in the morning.

His plane should have arrived two hours ago and yet here he was, dark circles under his eyes and way too much caffeine in his veins.

Solitude was something really close to his heart and mind, a bubble protecting him from the world. He would deeply appreciate if it stayed that way but, unfortunately, he remained in the public space. That meant the opportunity of socialization, whether he wanted it or not.

That’s why he couldn’t really do anything about the man that decided to plop down right next to him, even though there was plenty of free sits around them. Just his luck, it seemed.

“They gonna drive me crazy with those delays, man!” He said way too loudly, his scratchy voice echoing in the almost empty terminal. “It’s third time this year!”

“Sounds exhausting,” Hermann replied politely, making sure he didn’t sound too interested. He was in no mood to carry an idle conversation with a stranger in the middle of the night.

“It is,” the man continued, relaxing in the chair, legs stretched out in front of him negligently. “Were I the one who paid for the ticket, I’d have been long gone outta here”

Hermann tried to give the odd little man his best look expressing something between ‘please go away’ and ‘can’t you see I’m tired and crave silence?’. He was good with those but unfortunately it didn’t work this time as the stranger seemed too preoccupied with his mobile, pale light reflecting in his glasses.

He took a closer look, noting that the man looked, quite frankly, nothing like him. Leather jacket and heavy boots were much more suitable for modern-musician types, those loud and cocky know-alls who would rather spend their money on alcohol than anything else. The way the man spoke only confirmed Hermann’s belief on the matter. He was probably heading to the gig somewhere in US, or maybe just coming back from one here, in the UK.

Or maybe, he idly wondered, the man was on tour with his questionable band, taking night planes to save up for more ‘important’ matters. He looked like it, Hermann thought, with all those bracelets up his pale wrists and disheveled hair.

“You okay, dude?” He asked and only then Hermann noticed he had been staring at him. Oh, how incredibly pathetic of him.

“I’m fine, thank you,” he said with a well trained smile plastered on his face, gripping on his cane only slightly tighter. “Just tired.”

“Not gonna lie, same here,” he gave Hermann a crooked yet understanding smile, dark bags under his eyes a sort of proof for that. 

A passing thought now haunted Hermann’s mind, firmly drilling itself into his mind.  _ He’s kind of cute.  _ Why this had to happen to him, from all of the people? He really did have better things to do than dwell on the other man’s appearance. Freckles across his cheeks. Thickened skin on the tips of his fingers, probably from playing guitar. A few days old, by a rough assumption, stubble that suited him quite nicely.

Hermann averted his eyes to the side, using the remainings of his willpower to focus on anything else in his surroundings than a stranger by his right. Which, frankly, wasn’t much. Nothing looked  _ interesting  _ enough to him, even when he tried really hard to pretend something counted as such. The weird dark stain on the nearest trash bin appeared remotely fascinating and Hermann was ready to held onto this when he felt something heavy on his arm.

The man didn’t lie about being tired because, apparently, he decided on taking a nap. On Hermann, to be precise. Usually, he would complain loudly and explicitly, making it  _ painfully  _ clear he didn’t wish for such a thing to happen  _ ever  _ again. However…

It was past three in the morning, his eyelids threatened to drop any moment and the little stranger did look adorable from this angle. A short nap wouldn’t kill him, right?

*  *  *

He arrived to the hotel around ten and didn’t really have time to take appropriate rest. Time was running out and he still had to revise the material for the upcoming conference, even if only to soothe his own nerves and nothing else.

As he sipped his tea in the room with notes spread across his bed, or later on as he sat in the cab, his mind couldn’t get rid of that man from the airport. He appeared messy, brash, completely out of Hermann’s world and, somebody save his poor soul, outrageously cunning in his own way. Probably, if circumstances were different, Hermann might have ended up chatting with him and maybe, just maybe, asking for his number. Giving it was a good talk, that is.

“Dr Hermann Gottlieb, welcome,” the man greeted him, leading them inside the building and up to the crowded hall. “We are glad you made it.”

“I am glad as well,” he said, scanning the room in search of familiar faces and whatnot. “It is an honor to be here, Dr McLain.”

“Your work about wormholes was fascinating and it would be a shame if we did not invite you here,” the professor stopped, smiling once again. “Dr Geiszler has amazing theories that are yet to be verified, about marine life that could have developed on Europa. Have the two of you met?”

Hermann was about to say that no, they didn’t, in fact, meet before, but then the said Dr Geiszler turned around and his tiny little world fell apart only to rearrange itself in the blink of an eye.

“Oh, hi again!” Geiszler said, his overall look as messy and cute as at the airport few hours prior. If not more, since he appeared slightly more rested and energetic than before.

Hermann’s heart skipped a beat. It was going to be an interesting conference, it seemed.

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to fight writer's block and this is the result. It turned out longer than I've expected it to and what can I say? I hope you liked it!
> 
> You can also find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/yourdeadprince) and [tumblr](http://ee-void.tumblr.com).


End file.
